Tucking-guide for sewing-machines.



L. ONDERDONK.

TUCKING GUIDE FOR SEWINGMACHINES.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTOLITHCL. WASHINGTON, u. I.v

L. ONDERDONK.

TUCKlNG GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I0, X908.

1,189,062. Patented May11,1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Snoamtoz Witness OZ W THE NuRRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHCL, WASHINGTON. Dc.

L. ONDERDONK.

TUCKING GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-10. 1908. 1,139,062. Patent-ed May 11, 1915.

3 $HEETSSHEET 3.

WW W W YWV THE NORRIS PETERS co.. p-naTc LITHO. WASHINGTON, D. u.

, ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LANSING ONDERDONK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB. TO UNION SPECIALMACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

'IUCKING-GUIDE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

1,1se,oe2.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed December 10, 1908. Serial No. 466,861.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LANSING ONDERDONK, acitizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the countyof New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Tucking- Guides for Sewing-Machines, (Case A,) of whichthe following is a description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing and to the letters and figures of refer-- ence marked thereon.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in tucking guidesfor sewing machines, and has for an object to provide a tucking guide,whereby a plurality of tucks may be formed, certain of said tucks beingformed after the others, and all of said tucks simultaneously stitched.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tucking guide forforming a plurality of tucks, which is so constructed that on theinitial insertion of the fabric, a certain number of the tucks may befirst formed in the fabric and then the remaining tucks subsequentlyformed in the fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide a presser foot which isconstructed for cooperation with my improved tucking guide, so as to aidin folding down and holding the tucks which have been formed, until theyare stitched.

These and other objects of my invention,

will in part be obvious, and will in part be" hereinafter more fullydescribed.

In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of theinvention; Figure 1 is a front view of the forward end of a sewingmachine, with my improved tucking guide attached thereto. Fig. 2 is atop plan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lower folding plate.Flg. l is a sectional view through the upper supporting member, andshowing the relative position of the tuck forming plates. Flg. 5 is adetail view showing the upper tuck forming member in its raisedposition. Fig. 6 is a front view of the forward end of the machine,showing a modification of the invention, in that the upper tuck formingmember is supported by the head of the machine. Fig. 7 is an end view ofthe machine showing the modified form of the invention, certain partsbeing in section. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 9 1sabottom view of my improved presser foot. Fig.

1( is a front View thereof. Fig. 11 is a side View of the presser foot.Fig. 12 shows a modified brake holding means.

My invention as herein illustrated, is shown as applied to a multipleneedle sewing machine, which comprises a work support 1, an overhangingarm 2, in which reclprocates a needle bar 3, carrying a plurality ofneedles 4. The stitch forming mechanism may be of any desiredconstruction, and will not need further description.

My improved tucking guide in the present embodiment of my invention,includes a lower tuck folding member 5, which is secured to the worksupport by suitable screws 6, 6, which pass through the openings 7, 7,in the base plate 8 of the lower member 5. Said openings 7, 7 may be ofsufiicient size so that said base plate may be adjusted relative to thework support and the stitch forming mechanism. Said base plate 8,carries a plurality of folding guides 9. Each of the folding guides 9,is formed with an upright portion, which is bent laterally so as to foldover the fabric to form the tuck. The folding guides 9, are herein shownas formed integral with the base plate 8. It is evident however, thatsaid folding guides, from certain aspects of the invention, may be ofdifferent shapes, and also may be secured to the base plate in anydesired manner. As viewed in Fig. 3, the tucking guide 9, at the extremeright, is shorter than the tucking guide adjacent thereto. As a matterof fact, each of the tucking guides from the right to the left, is showna little longer than the tucking guide adjacent thereto. The purpose ofmaking the tucking guides one a little longer than the other, is so thatthe longest tucking guide will form its tuck in the fabric, before thefabric reaches the guide adjacent thereto, and this guide adjacentthereto, will form its tuck before the fabrio reaches the third tuckforming guide. That is to say, the first tuck forming guide draws thefabric laterally until sufiicient slack is secured for forming the firsttuck, then the second tuck forming guide draws the fabric laterally,until its tuck is formed, and so on, forming one tuck after another. Itwill be readily seen that if the tuck forming guides were all of thesame length, then all of the tucks would be formed at one time, andthere must necessarily be a slipping of the fabric laterally over thetuck forming guides. By my improved tucking guide however, this lateralslipping of the fabric over the tucking guide, is avoided, and I amthereby enabled to form a plurality of tucks without unduly stretchingthe fabric.

Cooperating with the lower tuck form ing member is an uppertuck formingmember 10, which as herein shown, includes a supporting bracket 11,pivoted at 12 to the depending flange of the work support, and extendingup through a slot 13 in the work support. The supporting bracket 11,carries a projecting arm 14, adjustably supporting an arm 14 whichcarries a plurality of tuck forming fingers 15. Said supporting arm 14also carries a smoothing plate 16. A second arm 17 is pivoted at 18 tothe smoothing plate 16, and is arranged in line with the arm 14 The arm17 also carries a plurality of tuck forming fingers 19. The tuck formingfingers 15 and 19 are similarly shaped and as herein shown are formedwith a downwardly extending shank and a laterally inclined portion,which is substantially parallel with the inclined portion of the tuckforming guides, and said tuck forming fingers are arranged so as to liebetween the respective tuck forming guides, as clearly shown in Figs. 1and 4. The tuck forming fingers 15 and 19 vary in length to correspondwith the length of the tuck forming guides as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The upper tuck forming member is held on the fabric by a latch 20, whichis adjust-- ably secured to the depending flange of the work support bya screw 21. An adjustable screw 22, engages the end of the arm of thebracket 11. A spring washer 23 surrounds the pivot 12 and serves to holdthe arm 14 in its various positions. During the operation of themachine, the upper member of the tucking guide is held on the fabric ina position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The latch 20 is released and thearm 14 raised so that the fabric may be placed on top of the tuckforming guides. The arm 17 is allowed to swing freely about its pivotpoint 18, and the arm 14 is lowered so that the tucking fingers 15 willcrowd the material down between the tuck forming guides, thus formingtucks in the material. In the formation of these tucks, there is ofcourse, necessarily a lateral slipping of the fabric over the tuckforming guides, until sufiicient slack is obtained in the fabric to formthe tuck. After the series of tucks have been formed by the tuck formingfingers 15, then the arm 17 is crowded down so that the tuck formingfingers 19 will crowd the fabric down between the tuck forming guides,with which they coiiperate, and thus the remaining tucks are formed.After the arm 17 has been swung down to its proper place, the slide 24,which is secured to the arm 17, by means of a screw 25, passing througha slot 26 in the slide, is moved laterally until its notched end engagesa headed stud 27 carried by the arm 14". This locks the arm 17 in itslowered positio'n.

The forward end of the arm 14 is beveled as at 28 and the beveled end 29of the arm 17 engages the same, which limits the downward movement ofthe arm 17. It will thus be seen by my improved tucking device, thatwhen the fabric is inserted in the tucking guide, a certain number oftucks are first formed in the fabric and then the remaining number oftucks are formed. This manner of inserting the fabric in the tuckingguide, avoids the strain which would necessarily be placed on thefabric, if a great number of tucks were simultaneously formed by thecrowding down of the upper tuck forming member into the lower tuckforming member. It will also be seen that during the operation of themachine, first one tuck is formed, and then another, and so on, thusagain, avoiding all unnecessary strain upon the fabric. The smoothingplate 16 holds the fabric down on the base plate 8' of the lower tuckforming member, and thus aids in the feeding of the material to thetucking guides and in the proper formation of the tucks. After thefabric leaves the tucking guides, the tucks are fed underneath thepresser foot and are simultaneously stitched by the stitching mechanism.

In the modification of my invention, shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, I haveshown the upper tuck forming member as carried by the head of themachine. This construction gives a wider range of operation of mytucking guides, as the width of the fabric being tucked is then onlylimited by the capacity of the sewing machine. In carrying out this partof my invention, I have provided the overhanging arm with a laterallyextending bracket 30 which is carried by a split collar 31, secured to aboss on the lower end of the overhanging arm by means of a screw 32.provided with a projecting stud 33. A collar 34 is carried by said stud33. Said collar 34 is provided with a downwardly and laterallyprojecting arm 35, which carries the smoothing plate 16. The smoothingplate 16 is provided with an adjustable arm 36, which carries aplurality of tuck forming fingers 37. The collar 34 is held on the stud33, by a large headed screw 38. Mounted on the collar 34, is a secondcollar 39, which has a downwardly extending arm 40, carrying in turn, asecond arm 41, which is provided with a plurality of tuck foldingfingers 42. The arm 36 is secured to the arm 41 by a slide 43 which issimilar in The bracket 30 is Y construction to the slide 24. The collar34 is also provided. with an upwardly extending arm 44, which carries anadjustable stop screw 45, adapted to contact with a bar 46, and limitthe downward movement of the smoothing plate and the tuck foldingfingers carried thereby. A spring latch 47 engages the arm 44, and'holdsthe same against the bar 46. The collar 39 is provided with a similararm 48 carrying an adjustable stop screw 49 and said arm is held so thatthe tuck forming fingers are in their lowered position by means of aspring latch 50.

The operation of my tucking guide as illustrated in Figs. 6, 7, and 8,is similar to that above described. The tuck forming fingers and alsothe tuck forming guides, are shown with the shortest tuck forming guideon the left, instead of on the right, as shown in Fig. 4. The operationhowever, of forming the tucks is precisely the same. Cotiperating withthe tuck forming guides is a presser foot 51, which is provided with aplurality of needle slo s 52. The forward end of the presser foot 51 isturned up as shown in Fig. 11. The end face of the presser foot isprovided with a plurality of notches 53, each of which has a straightside 54 (Fig. 10), and an inclined side 55. The purpose of the inclinedside 55 of the tuck receiving notch is toturn down the tuck fiat uponthe fabric, while the straight side 54 guides the edge of the tuck. Theguiding notches in the presser foot receive the tucks as they leave thetuck forming guides and serve to hold the tucks in proper position anddirect the same to the-needles of the stitch forming mechanism.

While I have shown in Fig. 2 the ends of the tuck folding membersadjacent the forward end of the machine as in a line at an angle to thepath of movement of the fabric to the tucking guide, it will be obviousthat one or two of the tucking guides may have their ends arranged in aline at right angles to the path of movement of the fabric, through thetucking guide, as shown for example, in Fig. 8. In this instance, two ofthe tucks would be simultaneously folded, while the remaining tuckswould be formed one after another.

It will be obvious that the ends of the tucking guides may be arrangedin pairs as above noted. It will also be obvious that the center guidemay be the longest guide, and the guides on each side thereof,successively shorter. The main purpose of the invention is to fold atleast some of the tucks where a great number of tucks are being made,after other of the tucks, so as to avoid the strain incident to thesimultaneous folding of a great many tucks.

In the construction shown in my modified form of the invention, the endsof the arms supporting the tuck folding fingers are formed in the arc ofa circle, the center of which is the pivotal axis of the supporting arm.It will thus be seen that either of the sets of tuck folding fingers maybe lifted from the fabric or lowered on to the fabric independently ofthe others. The lower position of the tuck folding fingers is determinedby the adjustable stop screws.

The arm 14 may be readily adjusted on the arm 14, and by loosening thescrews 6, the plate 5, carrying the formers 9, may be adjusted. By theseadjustments, it will readily be seen that the size of the tucks and alsothe spacing of the, tucks may within certain limits, be varied.

By adjusting the arm 36 (Fig. 8), the po sition of the tuck formingfingers 37 relative to the formers on the base plate'may be set so as todiffer from the position of the tuck forming fingers 37, relative to theformers on the base plate. By this adjustment it will be seen that I canmake at one time, two clusters of tucks which are of different sizes ordifferently spaced. If clesired, the auxiliary tuck forming fingers 42,as shown in Fig. 8, or the tuck forming fingers 19, as shown in Fig. 2,may be rendered inoperative, and the tuck forming fingers 37' or 15 willoperate to form a cluster of tucks. By throwing these auxiliary tuckforming fingers into and out of operation, I may if desired, make firsta cluster of tucks having a certain number, and then another cluster oftucks having a different number. By the above adjustments, tucks closetogether or wideapart could be made as desired, without changing theposition of the guiding fingers and formers relative to each other,except to throw the auxiliary tuck forming fingers into or out ofoperative position.

In Fig. 12, I have shown a. different form of mechanism for holding thebracket arm 11 with the tuck formers in operative position. In thisfigure, the bracket arm 11 is pivoted at 12 to the work support 1. Twolinks 60 and 61 are pivoted to each other at 62. The link 60 is pivotedat 63 to a suitable screw connected to the bracket arm 11. link 61 ispivoted at 64 to a bracket 65, which is rigidly but adjustab ly, securedto the work support 1. The bracket 65 is connected to the work supportby a pivot screw 66 and a slot and screw connection 67, which serves asmeans for adjusting the brackets 65 on its pivot. The link 61 isprovided with a stop 68, which serves to limit the further movement ofthe toggle links when the The the toggle is broken in the well knownmanner and the bracket arm 11 may be swung about its pivot 12. Thelocation of the formers when in operative position, may be adjusted byadjusting the position of the bracket 65.

Having thus particularly described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secureby Letters Patent is l. The combination of a worksupport, stitch-forming mechanism including a needle bar, a plurality ofneedles carried thereby arranged in a line substantially at right anglesto the line of feed, and a plurality of tuck-forming devices, saiddevices terminating at their receiving ends one in advance of the otherrelative to the stich-forming mechanism, whereby a plurality of tucksmay be formed one in advance of the other, and devices for directing thetucks to the stitchforming mechanism, whereby they may be simultaneouslystitched.

2. The combination of a work support, stitch-forming mechanism includinga needle bar, a plurality of needles carried thereby and arranged in aline substantially at right angles to the line of feed, a plurality oftuck-forming guides carried bv the work support, a plurality of uppertuck-forming fingers cooperating therewith, said tuckforming fingersterminating at their receiving'ends one in advance of the other relativeto the stitch-forming mechanism, whereby a plurality of tucks may beformed one in advance of another and directed to the stitchformingmechanism.

8. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, including a plurality ofneedles, a presser foot having a plurality of needle holes, said presserfoot having a plurality of grooves formed therein in advance of saidneedle holes, said grooves being inclined to the vertical and locatedwholly in front of the needle holes, for turning down and directing aplurality of tucks, and a tucking guide, including means for forming aplurality of tucks.

4. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, including a plurality ofneedles, a presser foot having a plurality of needle holes, said presserfoot having a plurality of grooves formed therein, in advance of saidneedle holes, said grooves being inclined to the vertical and locatedwholly in front of the needle holes, for turning down and directing aplurality of tucks, and a tucking guide including an upper member and alower member, tuck forming guides carried by said lower member, andcooperating tuck forming fingers carried by said upper member.

5. A tucking guide including in combination, an upper member and a lowermember, a plurality of guides carried by saidlower member, one of saidtuck guides extending farther toward the front of the machine than theothers, and the other guides commencing respectively at points nearerthe stitch forming mechanism, whereby one tuck maybe folded in advanceof another, the rear end of said tucking guides being substantially thesame distance from the stitch forming mechanism.

6. A tucking guide including a supporting member, aplurality of tuckforming guides carried thereby, the rear ends of said tucking guidesbeing substantially in line, and the other ends of said tucking guidesbeing arranged on a line at an acute angle to the direction of movementof the fabric through the tucking guide, whereby one tuck may be foldedafter another.

7. A tucking guide including in combination, a lower member, tuckforming guides carried thereby, an upper member, tuck folding fingerscarried thereby, said tuck forming guides and said tuck folding fingersat their rear ends being substantially in a line at right angles to thedirection of move ment of the fabric through the tucking guide, and theother ends of said tuck forming guides and said tuck folding fingersbeing arranged at an acute angle to the direction of movement of thefabric through the tucking guide, whereby one tuck may be folded afteranother.

8. The combination of a tucking guide including tuck-folding members,certain of said tuck-folding members terminating at their receiving endsin advance of others, and means for turning down the tucks after leavingthe tucking members and prior to the stitching of the same.

9. The combination of a tucking guide including tuck-folding members,certain of said tuck-folding members terminating at their receiving endsin advance of others, means for turning down the tucks after leaving thetucking members and prior to the stitching of the same, andstitch-forming mechanism operating to simultaneously stitch each of saidtucks.

10. A tucking guide including in combination, an upper member, a lowermember, means whereby said upper member may be moved toward and fromsaid lower member, said upper member having a plurality of tuck foldingfingers located side by side and means whereby certain of said tuckfolding fingers may be moved down into operative relation to'the fabricbefore the others.

11. A tucking guide including in combination, a lower member, tuckforming guides carried thereby, said tuck-forming guides extendingupwardly and laterally so as to form and fold over a tuck, an uppermember, tuck folding fingers carried thereby, and cooperating with saidtuck forming guides, means whereby said upper member may be moved in aplane substantially at right angles to the line of movement of thefabric through the tucking guide to a position above the tuck foldingfingers to permit the insertion of the material.

12. A tucking guide including in combination, a lower member, tuckforming guides carried thereby, said tuck-forming guides extendingupwardly and laterally so as to form and fold over a tuck, an uppermember, tuck folding fingers carried thereby and cooperating with saidtuck forming guides, means whereby said upper member may be moved intoand out of operative position in a plane substantially at right anglesto the line of movement of the fabric through the tucking guide,including a pivotal support located at one side of the plane of thelower member, and so disposed that the folding fingers are movedlaterally underneath the tuck folding guides.

13. A tucking guide including in combination a supporting member, aplurality of tuck folding fingers carried thereby and located side byside, said supporting member being formed in sections, whereby certainof said fingers may be moved into and out of engagement with thematerial independent of the others.

14. A tucking guide including in combination, a supporting member, anarm rigidly carried thereby, a plurality of tuck folding fingers carriedby said arm, a second arm pivotally carried by said support, a pluralityof tuck folding fingers carried by said second arm, and means forlocking said second arm so that the same may be rigid with said firstnamed arm.

15. A tucking guide including in combination, a lower member, tuckforming guides carried thereby, an upper member, an arm rigidly attachedthereto and carrying a plurality of tuck folding fingers, a second armin line with said first named arm and pivotally carried by said uppermember, a plurality of tuck folding fingers carried by said second arm,and means for locking said second arm rigidly in line with said firstnamed arm.

16. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, including a needle, apresser foot, said presser foot having a needle hole therein, and agroove in advance of the needle hole on the under side of said foot,said groove being inclined to the vertical and located wholly in frontof the needle hole, for turning down and directing a tuck to the stitchforming mechanism, and a tuck forming guide in advance of the presseroot.

17. The combination with stitch forming mechanism, of a tucking guidehaving a plurality of devices arranged side by side for forming aplurality of tucks, and means for rendering certain of said deviceseffective or ineffective for varying the number of tucks.

18. The combination of a tucking guide including in combination,tuck-folding devices terminating one in advance of the other at theirreceiving ends relative to the stitching mechanism, whereby one tuck maybe formed in advance of another, and a smoothing member operating uponthe fabric before it passes to the tucking devices, said smoothingmember being curved at its receiving end.

19. The combination with a tucking guide, a pivoted bracket supportingsaid tucking guide, whereby it may be moved from operative toinoperative position, and toggle links cooperating with said bracket,for locking said tucking guide in operative position.

20. The combination with a tucking guide, a pivoted bracket supportingsaid tucking guide, whereby it may be moved from operative toinoperative position, and toggle links cooperating with said bracket forlocking said tucking guide in operative position, and means foradjusting said toggle linkswhereby the position of the tuck; ing guidemay be varied.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa. ture, in presence of twowitnesses.

LANSING ONDERDONK.

Witnesses:

W. H. 130mm, R. S. OSWALD.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gonimissioner- 01! Patents, Washington, D. G.

